The Adventures of Annie and Mitch: Okie Dokie

Our final stop on the road was Oklahoma City. It was a brief stop but we managed to squeeze the last drops of vacation out of it. I have relatives in OKC so Mitch was suggested to more family meetings. He may not have all the names down, but in just over 36 hours he met two aunts (Linda and Sharon), one uncle (Tom), 5 cousins (Meghan, Kiley, Lindy, Cassie, and Blair), two three cousin husbands (David who belongs to Meghan, Paul who belongs to Kylie, and Jody who belongs to Blair), a boyfriend (Ulys who is with Lindy) and four littles (Meghan's cuties Emma and Andy and Blair's cuties Ellie and Remy). And I didn't even provide flash cards. But he got to play with Cassie's darling kitten, Mowgli, so he was ok with it.

In the afternoon we had to explore, we went to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial and the Centenial Land Run monument (I'd never heard of it either). The bombing memorial is beautifully done- it sits where the federal building once sat and on either side are large square arches that signify the entrance and have the times 9:01 and 9:03 on them. The bombing occurred at 9:02, so the represent the world before and after. There is a serene reflecting pool and simple stone and glass chairs representing each victim and the floor they were on in the building. The chair is engraved with their name and the children's chairs are smaller in size. There are a number of trees that were planted to represent the first responders and an additional patio covered in tiles painted by children from all over the US and sent to the memorial. The entire area feels oddly peaceful for an area that was once the site of a horrific terror attack. The footprint of the building is visible along one side and the neighboring building, which was also damaged, now serves as a museum. It's heartbreaking that such a place has to exist- that so many people lost their lives and are now just memories.

After we left the memorial we switched gears and went to the land run monument. It was unique to say the least. It was mostly larger than life but incredibly detailed statues of people on horses and in covered wagons. From a distance the statues looked like they'd be life size, but as we got closer, they got larger. And larger. And larger. I think the people were about 8 feet tall and the horses were terrifyingly large. The monument is located near the boathouse district. I didn't not see "boathouse district" coming being in a landlocked state. But they have an Olympic practice rowing course on the river, which Mitch rowed on back in his college days. Oklahoma is just full of surprises. And giant horses.

We capped our visit with dinner with the previously mentioned family members. Then got some sleep. The next morning we packed up, got in the car, and drove. And drove. And drove some more. Then drove more. For what seemed like forever but was actually about 16 hours. But at a little after 11pm we pulled into our drive way and had officially made it home!